With Justice for None

by Gerry Spence

Book Overview

"A scathing indictment of how law is taught, practiced, and administered in this country....One of the best books ever written on the law."-Denver Post.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812916964
• ISBN13: 9780812916966
• Release Date: April 1989
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

God's power is on the side of Justice and the people

If a man labors diligently he expects too profit from that labor. Similarly, if governmental interests preempt a man's land and the grounds for justification are not compelling as necessary for the welfare and security of the nation then the government is expected to pay fair market compensation for the land. A Laissez-faire ensured government encroachment in business would be held too a minimum allowing commerce to flourish through free trade. Often times the Supreme Court did not feel competed too impose their opinions of business on the market and remained neutral. Federal courts began establishing a dominate of pattern of reversing jury decisions for physical damages and punitive damages award by juries. Sometimes the cases involved a conflict between and individual and a business, an individual against another individual represented by a silent insurance company, or a state regulation against a business. In over 70 percent of the cases appeal to a federal court, the court reversed the decision of the jury. The Supreme Court ruling in Hancock established that judges held the power to tell juries what the law is. So, Judges instructed juries on the meaning of the law. Judges specific told juries what laws should apply to the case and which laws to ignore. Even before a trial started, a judge could decide, who should win the case. In both the Silkwood and Pringer federal cases involving a federal judge reversed the punitive damages. The reason for reverse in Silkwood suggested that a state could not regulate Kerr-McGee, a private nuclear business, instead that was the job NRC, a federal agency. NRC had over 500 filings on record against Kerr-McGee and no formal litigation. In Pringer, a Federal Judge reversed the Ms Wyoming defamation suite because the stories sold too 26 million men were fantasy and not reality therefore no direct damage could be assigned. Federal courts preempt the rulings and regulations of State courts when the punishments are excessive causing appeal. It seems the federal courts force state courts to preempt. The courts protect the economic liberties of big business. Courts want big business to profit from their labors and make money. The contractual agreements to transact business are protected by the law. The terms for goods and services are defined in the contract and profit amounts agreed upon too do business. A breach of contract brings judicial penalties for the violating party to pay up. Judges are do not provide the moral guardianship of the law. Moral guardianship is the job of the legislative body. Judges defend or champion the interests of law and not necessary justice. Justice is God's job.Judges are Gods. They can decided who stays married, who gets divorce; they can wrestle children from families and put them if foster homes; they can decide who was right in a traffic violation and who should pay the bill. Judges are the law.

Inspiring, and depressing...

A lot has happened to society in general, and the practice of law, in particular, since Spence wrote this book.On the one hand, inspiring stories of how the system is made to work in spite of its nature are countered with the cold, hard fact that the house usually wins.On the other hand, the world has changed - dramatically - since Spence wrote this book.I admire Spence as a writer, and admired Spence as a lawyer until I saw his slipshod defenses of Simpson, and Clinton; the world changed, and Gerry didn't.His later writings seem to be of a man who is aware that things -the institutional structures of society, including the legal system - are falling apart, and he does not see the relationship between Simpson walking free, and a society that saw how poorly our interests are protected by our nominal defenders.From the feeling of helplessness in the face of Evil - thank you, Judge Ito - a lot of people aren't overly concernedwith the fine points of what the practice of Constitional law has become.They want to be able to sleep at night in peace, and walk the streets without fear.He displayed an awesome prescience when he said that, today, many people would reject the Bill of Rights out of hand.That's for openers.

A must read for lawyers and others

Somewhere in my second year of law school I realized that the study of law was the study of Power. Want to know who runs the good ol' USA, read the tax code. Spence's book helps show the links between a flawed society and a flawed legal system. He does more than shine a light on the problems in our legal system, he has ideas that should be discussed. I loved this book in law school and now, after practicing law as a prosecutor for 3 years, it is still relevant. If you're a lawyer and have lost that passion that makes you a good lawyer and a good person, read or re-read this book. If you're not a lawyer, read it and you'll gain insights to the workings of power in your society.

problems AND solutions

I'm a lawyer, and this is my favorite book about the law. There are so many social issue books in the world that spend a great deal of time describing a problem and then just leave you with it. Not so this one. The book has paired chapters -- the problem with judges/some ideas for fixing it, the problem with law schools/some ideas for fixing them. He has obviously spent many years talking and observing and thinking about what really is wrong with our justice system, synthesizing the good ideas that are out there, and adding his own wise solutions.Yes, Gerry Spence has defended some pretty unpopular people. He probably took the most heat for his defense of Imelda Marcos. And he does not apologize for this. BUT he is a believer in a true system of advocacy, and if more lawyers were like him, he would lose more often at their competent hands.Spence has made many mistakes in his personal life and hasn't been perfect in his professional life either. (His stories of his days as an insurance lawyer, grabbing every last crumb from people in despair, aren't pretty.) I think the world would be a much better place if everyone were as comfortable confessing the things they've done wrong as he is.In all, a brilliant lawyer, complex man, and fine writer. Reading this will make you interested in intricacies of the law you never thought you would care about. He will show you why some of these insignificant seeming details have crucial influences on justice in America and the lack thereof.

The Truth Hurts

I have been involved in a civil lawsuit against a multinational megacorporation, and I have seen the truth that Gerry Spence speaks of "from the inside out."... Too many of our lawyers entered the legal profession because of the perceived "lucrative nature" of law practice rather than from the standpoint of delivering justice for the people.The quality of advocacy in our free country is very poor because of the focus on "money" and "prestige" rather than "justice."I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to understand the truth. Be warned that the truth hurts.